This Quiet Moment
by shalom378
Summary: Ruby Frisk. Cory St. Ives. Two loves, working at the SFPD alongside the characters from Cause of Death. Set in Volume One: The Maskmaker.
1. Tick Tick Tick

**Hey-o all! I'm back from a month of vacation! Thank you so much if you are reading this because I PM'd you. This is a one-shot with all the **

**characters from Cause of Death, except I added two of my own. If this gets good reviews I may work on another COD one-shot. Thanks so **

**much and pretty please REVIEW! P.S. Spoilers for Volume 1 in this story.**

_At sixteen years old, Ruby Frisk is the youngest person to be working with the SFPD. She was hired at age thirteen when her adopted _

_brother Mal Fallon recommended her because of her exceptional mind. Ruby became romantically entangled with Cory St. Ives when they were _

_assigned as partners. Now, Ruby works in the crime lab investigating her first big case with Kai and Amy- but can she stop him in time?_

Cory St. Ives presses a kiss to his girlfriend's temple and smoothes back her chestnut hair. "It's 5:30. Rise and shine, Ruby." The girl yawns

and sits up in bed, squinting sleepily at Cory. "You're already dressed?" she asks incredulously. Sliding off the bed, Cory retrieves some rumpled

clothes from the closet and tosses them at the girl. "I'm leaving with or without out you in half an hour- let's go!" In an attempt to pout, Ruby

sticks out her lower lip, bats her eyelashes innocently, and looks up with her piercing blue eyes through her fringed bangs. "No good morning

kiss?" Cory sighs as if dealing with a two-year old and puts his forehead on hers. "I already gave you one," he says softly. "That didn't count,"

Ruby murmurs as she closes the space between their lips. Her heart beats faster as Cory cups her cheek with his strong hand, and she runs her

hands along the back of his grey T-shirt, inching towards his jeans… Cory pulls back, panting a little, and shakes his head. "We're gonna be

late." When Ruby pretends to pout again he flees the room, shouting over his shoulder, "Twenty minutes!"


	2. BOOM

6:17 AM

San Francisco Police Department

Current Case: Herman Hartnell, AKA 'Zero'

Data analyst Ruby Frisk sweeps into the crime lab juggling manila folders and a travel mug of coffee. Amy Chen looks up from her laptop

and asks, "Did you hear the news?" "Uh…" Ruby hardly has a chance before Amy rushes on in excitement, "They caught him! Herman

Hartnell! Zero!" The coffee canteen nearly hits the ground as Ruby collapses with relief in a chair beside Amy. "Expletives just can't capture how

glad I am to see him behind bars!" Ruby says, swallowing some coffee. Amy chatters on excitedly. "Well, they didn't actually CATCH him. He

turned himself in! Crazy right? So now they're turning the rest of the case over to us in the crime lab!" Ruby frowns. "Wait- the REST of the

case?" Amy's face falls, and she says, "Yeah, that's the bad news. See, even though Zero is caught, he came with… a catch." "And that is?"

Amy takes off her glasses and cleans them on a corner of her shirt. "He's planted a bomb somewhere in the city, and we have to find out where

it is before it detonates in two hours."

Mal and Cory walk into the crime lab fifteen minutes later to find it in a busy flurry. Amy types furiously on a computer while Ruby

feverishly reads through a mountain of papers. "Have you checked the Golden Gate Bridge yet?" "Yes, it's negative- no unusual activity in the

past month," replies Amy. "Uh, hey nerds," teases Mal. "Want to fill us in? Cory and I are going to look at the docks." "Good idea," says Amy

without looking up. Mal shrugs at Cory who in turn shrugs back. "Frisky?" Mal asks questioningly, half-smiling when Ruby cringes at the

annoying nickname.

"Check with Kai," she replies, her brow furrowed over Zero's case files. The two men walk over to where Kai Kalaba sits, his head on his folded

arms on a desk, snoring slightly. Mal shakes Kai's shoulder and he jolts awake with a shout. "Nuclear candy!" "So, while a bomb is lying in wait,

you're sleeping?" Cory chides, leaning against the desk. "It's just so boring," complains Kai. "I though Zero was so cool- this un-catchable beast!

But he barely even had the strength to wheel himself in here. And all I've found is this piece of lint from his shoe shaped like a turkey." Kai

holds up the piece of fluff for observation. Mal squints. "Kai, that looks nothing like a turkey." Kai shakes his head and sets down the lint. "Some

people just have no imagination."

After Mal and Cory leave, Ruby sighs and sets down a page. "Well, I'm not getting anywhere with this. I mind as well check out the

wheelchair." Amy points to the corner where the murderer's wheelchair sits, right beside a bored Kai's desk. Ruby bends down beside the metal

frame and Amy follows, running her hand along the tire rims. "Nothing unusual came up when we ran light diagnostics on it," she muses, then

turns and glares at Kai resting his chin in his hand. "Real helpful over there, Kai." "The turkey needs company!" he defends. "Shh…" whispers

Ruby, "Do you hear that?" "What?" Amy asks, mimicking Ruby's soft tone. There's a terse moment of quiet. Kai tilts his head and all three can

hear a faint but sure ticking noise emanating from the wheelchair. "It sounds like it's-" Amy presses her ear to the cold metal of the wheelchair.

Something clicks, and Kai shouts "NO!"

He jumps up and tackles Amy to the ground just as the first explosion rips through the precinct- directly

from Zero's wheelchair.


	3. Time For Action

Ruby comes out of the inky blackness of a concussion and begins to panic when she realizes thick slabs of the crime lab's concrete wall are

covering her whole body. As she tries to wriggle through an excruciating pain stabs her torso and it becomes hard to breathe. Ruby coughs on

the thick black smoke surrounding her and blinks flakes of ash from her eyes. When she looks to her right she can just make out Amy's frail

hand sticking out of the rubble. "Amy…" Ruby tries shoving her huge prison but cries out in agony as her ribs send shooting flames everywhere.

Suddenly, she hears a man's voice in the corridor. "Amy? Ruby?" there's a pause and the man coughs, then shouts desperately, "Kai!" Ruby

tries to shout back, but her voice catches and she chokes on the smoke again. The footsteps come closer and through the cracks in the

concrete Ruby's see Mal's shoes, scuffed and covered in ash, a mere yard from her. "Mal," she croaks. The feet shuffle, confused, then Ruby

hears him trying to move the 300-pound concrete pieces. "It's okay, Ruby, I'm gonna get you out of here," he reassures in a voice thick with

smoke. The concrete moves an inch, three inches… Mal give a final shove and the massive slab crashes onto the floor. Ruby takes a giant breath

as her chest is released and immediately regrets it as her ribs scream at her. "Damn, Ruby," Mal murmurs, taking in her injuries. Gently, as if

she were a baby bird who had broken its wing, he slips one arm under her knees and another behind her shoulders, then lifts her from the

wreckage. "What about-" before she can ask after Kai and Amy Ruby hears a whooshing sound and blacks out.

When Ruby wakes up ten minutes later she finds herself lying on a stretcher in front of the department. Attempting to sit up brings

terrible pain, but she manages, slowly, to keep herself in a sitting position. The place is terribly busy- fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, and

news media vehicles line the streets. A police barrier is set up, keeping a crowd of hundreds- reporters, broadcasters, and gawking civilians- at

bay. An exhausted Maria Yeong stands on a podium in the front of the mob, talking to the press. "Yes, it has been confirmed that Herman

Hartnell, best known as the notorious 'Zero', is the cause of the bombing. We are in the process of finding the killer and my agents will shoot

him on sight." A reporter shouts out, "How many of yours are hurt?" A pained look crosses the Captain's worry-worn face; she replies, "So far

there are no reported fatalities. But, among the wounded are two of our best officers, Ken Greene and Cory St. Ives…" Cory… ITALICS Ruby

clutches the edge of the railing leading up to the police department. Ignoring the pounding in her head, she pulls herself up and stands, wobbly.

With determination set into her face she takes the five steps carefully- no one notices. Just as she's about to open the office door Mal bursts

out, along with a puff of smoke. "Ruby!" before he can say anything else, Ruby cuts him off. "Take me with you. Please. I have to find him. I

have to find Cory. Please…" She stops as a tear escapes and makes a trail down her smoke-smeared face. Mal places a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's go."


	4. A Still, Quiet Moment

"Cory?" Ruby calls, trudging through the wreckage of the office. Mal trips on a piece of wood, then shouts, "Over here, Ruby!" She trudges

back to Mal and looks down at what he's examining. Three drops of blood stain the linoleum and Mal is taking the pulse of a bruised and

battered Cory St. Ives. Ruby whispers his name, and Mal looks up. "He's alive, but we need to get him to a medic stat." Mal loops his arm under

behind Cory's shoulders and lifts him awkwardly. With Ruby helping him they bring him out into the fresh, clear light. The crowd shifts and

cameras flash as three medics come to Cory's rescue. They begin talking to each other, their training paying off as they ignore the press's

questions and begin hooking Cory up to different machines while one medic slips an oxygen mask over his head. Ruby shivers, hugging herself

until Mal drapes his coat over her shoulders. "Thanks," she murmurs, pulling it around her. "He'll be okay, Frisky," Mal assures the anxious Ruby,

watching as the medics begin to lift Cory via stretcher into the back of an ambulance. Ruby numbly leaves the comforting words and steps into

the back of Cory's ambulance. Once seated she looks upon his face, a purple bruise blooming on his left cheek, and runs her hand through his

chocolate brown curls. "Please, please come back to me, Cory…"

Mal watches Ruby disappear into the back of the ambulance. A hand softly touches his back, and he turns to see Natara standing behind

him, a butterfly bandage on the left side of her forehead. "Are you okay?" she asks, her eyes crinkled in concern. "I'm fine- but you?" Mal

gestures to her bandage. Her hand flutters to her brow, and she says dismissively, "I'll be okay. Will Cory?" Mal sighs, and turns in the direction

of the ambulance. "I can only hope." Natara takes his hand, previously hanging limp at his side. The couple stands on the sidewalk full of

questions and chaos and grief, and find a still, quiet moment.


End file.
